Star Trek: Phoenix
by Medie
Summary: What if it wasn't Voyager and Janeway that went after Chakotay...what if it was someone else?
1. Default Chapter

TITLE: Lest We Forget  
  
AUTHOR: M. Edison  
  
CONTACT: medison@thezone.net or aenohe@yahoo.com  
  
URL: http://medie.ink-and-quill.com  
  
SERIES: Phoenix/Voyager AU  
  
RATING: PG  
  
CODES: Chakotay/Other, AU  
  
PART: 1/1  
  
SUMMARY: In the aftermath of Wolf359, two officers try to move on.  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: this fic was part of me playing with an alternate universe of sorts. It was a blend of Voyager and an AUship. Basically, what if it hadn't been Voyager and Janeway but another captain and another ship that had gone after Chakotay. I wrote a ficlet to explore a part of that character and her past with Chakotay.  
  
Don't know if I will actually continue on with the AU but I thought I'd share this at least.  
  
DISCLAIMERS: Paramount and Viacom own Chakotay. Amanda was created by me.  
  
"Lest We Forget"  
  
by M.  
  
-----  
  
Starfleet Headquarters  
  
San Francisco, California, Earth  
  
Stardate 44013.5   
  
Newly-promoted starship captain, Amanda Ziering emerged from Starfleet Headquarters and tilted her head back to briefly luxuriate in the afternoon sun.  
  
She hesitated then sucked in a steadying breath before walking forward to meet her waiting companion.   
  
Lt. Commander Chakotay surveyed her wan features and offered an encouraging smile. "So, what did they say?"  
  
"My personal leave has been approved." She held out the PADD in her hand. "They're giving me the MacKenzie when I come back. It's an Ambassador-Class ship and being refitted at Utopia Planitia as we speak."   
  
"Is the refit being handled by your father?" He asked absently as they walked to their waiting shuttle.   
  
"No, but I know the man who is. He's a Bolian and a very talented engineer." She settled into her seat and looked over at him. "Mind if we take a little detour?"  
  
Chakotay smiled. "Not at all." He handed the PADD back, his hands moving to play across the console before him. "Where to, ma'am?" He teased lightly.   
  
She rested her head back against the padded seat, smiling over at him. "Chicago."   
  
"A visit to Grandmother's house hmm?" Inputting the commands, Chakotay skillfully guided the shuttle into the air, sending it racing out over San Francisco Bay.  
  
"Does that make you, Little Red Riding Hood?"   
  
Amanda chuckled. "Depends. Does that make you the Big Bad Wolf?"   
  
"Well, you always did look good in red." He countered with a grin.   
  
------   
  
They set the shuttle down in a clearing behind her grandmother's house before going in through the backdoor.   
  
"She's not home." Chakotay noted as they moved through the quiet house.   
  
"No, I didn't think she would be." The woman at his side replied. "She and some of her friends are spending a week in Spain." She smiled lightly. "Vacation." She led Chakotay into the front room where she dropped to her knees, heedless of her uniform, before an old steamer trunk. "This is what I came for."   
  
"What is it?" He questioned, crouching beside her.   
  
"Old-style photographs." Lifting the lid, Amanda revealed several photo albums. She sifted through them until she found a particular one. "They're from my Grandmother's family. Generations gone by and all that." Taking the album across the room to a seat, she rested it in her lap and opened the cover.   
  
Chakotay followed, sitting down next to her. He looked surprised when he saw the large photograph on the first page. "Enterprise."   
  
"NX-01." She nodded, her gaze settling on a particular face.   
  
"Why would your Grandmother have photographs of the first Enterprise?"   
  
Amanda lifted her eyes to his, smiling. "Because, this man," She tapped the face. "Is one of her ancestors. One of my ancestors."   
  
His eyebrows rose in reaction. "You're descended from Travis Mayweather?"   
  
She grinned. "You sound surprised."   
  
"That's because I am." He leaned over to examine the picture more closely. "You don't seem the type. Travis Mayweather, by all accounts, was a fairly..." He paused to find the right word. "mild individual."   
  
Amanda laughed. "And I'm not."   
  
"Not by a longshot." He agreed, leaning over to capture her lips with his. "But I prefer you that way."   
  
She rested one hand on the album while the other slid into his hair, returning the kiss slowly. When they separated, she brushed her thumb across his lower lip.  
  
"Hot-blooded, hmm?"   
  
"Very." Chakotay looked down at the photograph. "But the way you love to fly...That is something you share..." He took the album into his hands, turning the pages slowly. Each one revealed personal, candid shots of the Enterprise crew. Some featured Travis, others he must have taken. Each and every face in the pictures was one he knew well. You didn't become a Starfleet officer - or even grow up in the Federation - without knowing the crew of Archer's Enterprise. These were the people who'd begun it all. The ones who'd taken the biggest risks. Modern day starships were the lap of luxury compared to the Enterprise NX-01.   
  
The ship, and her crew, had been the best of the best in that day. Nothing Earth had could compare with her. The ships that had come since, even Amanda's new command, were light-years ahead of them in technology but there was something about this crew...it brought out the dreams. The wonder.   
  
He found himself looking at an image of Travis and an officer, Commander Tucker, sitting upside down.   
  
"The sweet spot." Amanda pointed out with a smile. "Ever tried to find that? The place where the artificial gravity is weakest...in the old days, it was the gravity plating but it's still there today - just harder to find." She noticed the faraway look on his face and moved a little closer. "What's that look about?"   
  
Chakotay looked over at her and offered a small smile. "Just thinking...dreaming. What it must have been like for them in those days. We take warp drive for granted. Most ships easily reach 9.5 these days...back then, Warp 5 - on a slower gradient at that - was enough to amaze them."   
  
"Sometimes you think we've gotten complacent?" She prompted. "Sometimes, I think we have too." Her head moved in a small nod. "There are days when the mystery seems to be gone from space. The awe that our ancestors must have felt, staring up at the stars and wondering what's out there. Now we know..."   
  
"And the magic's gone."   
  
"There are times, I agree." She smiled. "But then I think about the first time I saw Mars from space. I was a little girl and..." Her head moved in a slow shake of wonder. "That feeling's never left me. The first time you see your homeworld like that...It brings it all back."   
  
He thought about that moment for him, remembered the awe, the amazement at seeing his home that way. "I remember..." His smile matched hers. "It's not something you ever forget."   
  
"No, not truly." Amanda agreed quietly. "But sometimes you need a little reminder."   
  
Chakotay lightly tapped one finger against the album. "And this is that reminder?"   
  
"Mmhmm..." Her head moved once in a nod and she drew in a steadying breath. "After....*it*...after Wolf 359...I need the reminder." Her voice quavered briefly and she wiped at a tear that threatened to spill down her cheek. "I need to remember why we're up there. Why I should bother to take the position. Or stay out there."   
  
Setting aside the photo album, he drew her into his arms, feeling her press her cheek against his shoulder and her arms slip about his upper body. They stayed that way, curled about each other, both battling the grief and horror resulting from the tragedy the Borg had visited on Starfleet and the Federation only a short while before. The wounds of that horrendous battle still fresh and still haunting their every thought. When they finally separated, Amanda reached out to pick up the album and looked down at her ancestor's face.   
  
"I almost wish I could trade places with him." She murmured quietly.   
  
"Almost?" He said just as softly, tucking a strand of her dark hair behind her ear.   
  
"Mmhmm...Almost." Looking up, she offered a hint of a smile. "After all, women didn't get to sit in the captain's chair in that day and now that I've got the rank, I don't plan on giving it up any time soon."   
  
Chakotay laughed quietly. "I love a woman who loves being in charge."   
  
Amanda recognized the gleam in his eye and held up a hand. "Chakotay...don't you dare..."   
  
The gleam intensified and his eyes dropped to her mouth. "Dare what?"   
  
"We can't...not *HERE*!" Grabbing the album, the slim beauty began edging off the couch. "This is my *grandmother's* house!"   
  
"And?" He countered. "You said yourself, she's in Spain. On vacation. How will she know?"   
  
"She's a *grandmother*." Amanda protested emphatically. "She has sensors that put a Galaxy-class to shame!" Reaching the kitchen door, she cast a glance about her, calculating her chances of making it to the door before being caught. "And I am *not* getting bawled out by my Grams less than a month after making Captain. I'll never hear the end of it."   
  
"The end of what?" Chakotay teased, backing her against a wall. "The fact your Grandmother 'bawled you out' or the fact you had sex in your grandmother's house?"   
  
She mock-glared at him. "Had? You're awfully confident of your conquest aren't you?"   
  
He trailed a finger along her jawline, tilting her lips up toward him. "Just confident of your willpower...or lack thereof."   
  
Amanda laughed quietly. "You'd be surprised."   
  
"Would I?" He met her mouth with his, kissing her slowly, his form pressing up against hers.   
  
They traded lingering kisses for a few moments until she managed, with the photo album's help, to push him back a little. "Yes," her eyes glimmered with mischief. "You would." Quite neatly, Amanda slipped down from his embrace and ducked around his side, making a dash for the door. Her smaller frame negotiated the kitchen easily and she reached the back door before he had a chance to recover.   
  
By the time he'd followed, she was already at the shuttle craft, leaning against it with a very self-satisfied smirk on her face. "So...about that confidence Commander?"   
  
"Shot to hell, *Captain*." Chakotay countered breathlessly, grinning at her.   
  
Amanda laughed then moved to the door of the shuttle. "I said not *inside* Grams's house but no one said anything about in the shuttle craft behind her house."  
  
He shook his head at her, chuckling. "Splitting hairs are we? What would your ancestor think of *that*?"   
  
She touched a fingertip to her chin, thinking. "Well, Travis was a highly intelligent person. He'd probably tell me you only live once and she is in Spain..."   
  
"He didn't know about the Trill." Her lover deadpanned, earning a smack to his shoulder.   
  
"*Humans* only live once then." Amanda clarified, grinning.   
  
"What about that?" Chakotay directed a nod at the photo album still in her arms. "Won't your Grandmother want it?"   
  
"I'll tell her I have it." She replied. "Grams always did say it was supposed to be mine. No better time to have it I think." She glanced down reflexively.  
  
"Captains need to be aware of where we've been...so we don't screw up where we're going."   
  
"So she does." He agreed, coaxing her inside the shuttle. "But that's one thing you've always been....conscious of your own history."   
  
"Look who's talking." She countered with a smile.   
  
He took the album from her and set it into a receptacle, closing it. Then, drawing her into his arms, he smiled down at her. "I'd rather forget conversation."   
  
"You would huh?" Amanda tilted her head back enough to look into his face. "And why's that?"   
  
"Because you promised me something to do with sex in a shuttle craft?" He teased lightly.   
  
She laughed. "So I did...Better lock the hatch, Commander. Wouldn't want someone peeking in."   
  
"That an order?" He teased, lifting a brow. "You're enjoying outranking me..."   
  
"Damn straight. I could get used to this captain thing." She sat down, stretching her legs out before her. "The perks are interesting..."   
  
Chakotay shook his head, amused. "Power trip."   
  
"Naw...just wait until I'm *on* the MacKenzie...then I'll have my power trip. Right after I throw up from being so nervous." She confessed with a sigh. "Is it ok to admit I'm scared out of my mind?"   
  
He moved away from the hatch and sat down across from her. "It's definitely ok. After all we've been through lately...and getting a command on top of it? Fear's the most natural thing you could be feeling about now." Reaching out, he took her hand, tracing patterns into her palm. "But if there was anyone who ever belonged in the Captain's chair...it's you. We both know it, 'Manda. You don't belong anywhere else like you belong there."   
  
She smiled faintly at him. "Have I told you lately how much I love you?"   
  
"Yes." He flashed a sudden grin at her. "But I won't complain if I hear it again." Leaning forward, he kissed her. "I've a prediction for you."   
  
"Oh really?" It was Amanda's turn to lift a brow. "You do have a hot-wired connection into the Great Hereafter. What is it?"   
  
"Travis Mayweather may have been the first legend in your family...but he's not going to be the last. Not by a longshot."   
  
Almost anyone that knew her would say Amanda Ziering was not a crier but yet, sitting in that shuttle, they would have been given cause to question that statement as Chakotay was sure he saw a tear glistening in her eye. "Here's to hoping." She replied quietly, kissing him slowly. "Here's to hoping."   
  
Finis 


	2. Captain, My Captain A Harry Vignette

Title: Captain, My Captain  
  
Fandom: Star Trek: Voyager (Sorta)  
  
Pairing: Harry/Other Unrequited  
  
Spoilers: None  
  
Author's Note: This story takes place in a Alternate Universe where another ship, rather than Voyager was stranded in the Delta Quadrant. Some of the Voy characters are there, some aren't. This story popped in my head during the [info]multifandom1000 Unrequired Love challenge but with the ficathons I had due, I didn't have time to write it. So I did it tonight just to get it out of my head. As for the title, well I couldn't resist. ;-p  
  
Rating: G  
  
Word Count: 831  
  
Notes: For the Unrequited Love challenge on the LJ community Multifandom1000  
  
"Captain, My Captain"  
by M.  
---------  
It's not surprising that he's in love with her. At least, that's what Harry tells himself every day. He's not the first ensign to fall for their captain. In his defense, his captain is particularly extraordinary, at least to his eyes she is. Captain Ziering is one of the legends produced by Wolf 359. Harry has read the account of her ship, the USS Abernathy, during the battle. Read how the captain was killed, thrusting the then Commander Ziering, his first officer, into command of a ship that was barely holding it together. The Abernathy had arrived at Wolf 359 swiftly, was among the first ships to engage the Borg, and took heavy damage, losing a quarter of her crew during the fight. Some to the Borg, some to the ship's own damage. The commander and the remaining crew had held their ravaged ship together by sheer force of will, holding out until the battle's end when the USS King had been able to rescue the crew.  
  
Harry can remember hearing about the stories of Wolf 359, of the crews lost, and the legends made that day. Serving under one of those legends, he can't help but idolize her. Can't help but love her. Amanda Ziering is a beautiful woman and a born leader. The comparisons to another legendary captain have followed her throughout her career despite her best attempts to shake them. Harry thinks they are comparisons well deserved. He's never seen anyone better suited to the captain's chair than Captain Ziering. Thinks that, if he had to be lost in the Delta Quadrant then there was no better ship than Phoenix and no better captain than Captain Ziering to be lost with. The captain's focus is to get them home but she holds to the ideals of Starfleet. She is, at heart, an explorer and in a time when the role of exploration has lessened, she is in her element in the Deltra Quadrant. He can see that in First Contact situations, when they meet a race no one in the Alpha Quadrant has ever heard of, he sees her posture change. She becomes more alert, more aware, excitement racing through her every cell. She thrives on those moments. Blossoms in them. He loves watching her in them. Loves accompanying her on landing parties. It's a chance to see her at her finest and he loves it.  
  
But, he knows there's a darker side to command. Phoenix is all alone in the Delta Quadrant. Amanda is the highest ranking Starfleet officer in this unknown space and the responsibility of that weighs heavy. Harry watched the Captain age a decade in the first month. The stress of pulling two crews, conditioned enemies, together under her command in an environment none of them is familiar with and without the support of Starfleet has taken it's toll. But he thinks, even with the stress, the Captain won't buckle under the pressure. It's forcing her to become streamlined, hard under the weight, coal becoming a diamond and he can practically watch the edges burn away. She's hardened and the crew follows her example. Harry follows her example. They survive here because they have to and she will do her best to see them through. It is as it was in that fateful battle where she tried to keep the Abernathy going. The ship and the crew hold themselves together by sheer force of will. She needs them and they need her. In a way, they are all in love with her. All awed by her. The captain is more than just their commander. She is mother, friend, fantasy lover, protector and healer all roled into one. She is, to each member of the crew, what they need her to be. Their view of her shapes their time aboard Phoenix. Their love of her and their new home, their ship, drives them to succeed, to perform their duties, to keep going.  
  
If Wolf 359 did not make her a legend, she has become one now, the crew's own personal legend. The junior ranks of the crew, Maquis and Starfleet alike, are in awe of her. Some do not like her, some resent her, but all are awed by her. She is a personable commander, she stops and speaks to crewman, inquires about their life, knows their names. She makes sure she does. Makes sure she walks the ship at least once in the day. She may not see it all but she will see some. She knows the crew needs to see her. Their legend cannot remain in the ivory tower that is the bridge. She is their rallying point and the knowledge that she is commanding the ship is not enough. They need to see her and she needs to see them.  
  
It's not surprising that Harry loves her...not surprising that many of his fellow crewmates love her too. They can't help themselves. She is their captain and she is their strength.  
  
Finis 


	3. Un Fantasma Tra Noi

Title: Un Fantasma Tra Noi  
Fandom: Star Trek: Voyager (sort of)  
Pairing: references to Chakotay/Other  
Spoilers: None  
Author's Note: This story is set during an AU version of Caretaker as a part of my Star Trek: Phoenix AU. Some of the crew members are the same. Some aren't. The ship, likewise, is different.  
Summary: This isn't how he expected to see her again.  
Notes: For the Lacuna Coil challenge. Title means "A Ghost Between Us"  
  
"Un Fantasma Tra Noi"  
by M.  
-  
Her face on the view screen was the last thing he expected. Her presence here was the last thing he'd expected. Though, if he was honest with himself, he shouldn't have been surprised. Chakotay had known Amanda was due to take a new command. His contacts inside Starfleet had told him that much. But as of the last time he had talked to them, they hadn't known which class of ship or the name of the vessel. He should have known it would have been one of the new Sovereign-class battle cruisers. Top of the line, best of the best, she'd shoot for nothing less and would accept nothing less. He was proud of her.  
  
He hadn't wanted things to end the way they had. With them over and him walking from Starfleet but he hadn't had any choice. He wouldn't ask her to betray the oaths she'd taken anymore than she would have asked him to hold to his. Starfleet was Amanda's life. She'd grown up around and in it. If there had ever been someone who had been born to be a Starfleet captain, Amanda Ziering was that someone. She'd never leave. She wouldn't know how to be anything other than Starfleet. He's seen her command, she can handle just about any situation it throws at her…but she would be completely and utterly at a loss if asked to live life as a anything else.  
  
It was for that reason he'd done what he'd did. For that reason he'd deliberately destroyed their relationship and walked. He'd been preparing for this moment. The moment she came face to face with him, the Starfleet captain confronting the Maquis commander…The moment when she would have to take him into custody, lock him up in her brig, and deliver him to the nearest Starbase for transport back to Earth for trial.  
  
He'd never expected that moment to come when the nearest Starbase was seventy five thousand light years away and both their ships in shambles. He can see that hers, though in better shape than his, has taken serious damage. The process that the alien had used to bring them clear across the galaxy hadn't been any gentler with her ship than it had his.  
  
There was no surprise in her dark gaze. She'd known she would see him when the channel opened. She'd been briefed by Starfleet. Though, he was curious as to what she was even doing there. Starfleet wouldn't be interested in one Maquis ship disappearing, Maquis ships disappeared all the time. Part of being, as the Federation called them, terrorists. If, that was, they'd even heard about it. He couldn't imagine the Cardassians had been in any hurry to tell them about it.  
  
Even if Starfleet had been interested, his ship was no match for a Sovereign-class. His ship wasn't a match for most of Starfleet's vessels, sending a Sovereign after them was, well, overkill. The cynic in him suggested that they'd sent not the ship but the captain. Expecting Amanda to be able to deal with him better than anyone else. They'd never made any attempt to hide their involvement. They'd never had a reason to. Or, expected to have a reason at any rate.  
  
It was a valid point but he didn't think that was it either. Some of the brass at Starfleet Command wouldn't be above suggesting it as loyal to Starfleet as Amanda was, they wouldn't be able to order her to do that. To hunt him down.  
  
He'd tried to prepare her for that. He hadn't told her the truth, of course, but he'd made their breakup as unpleasant as he could bear to. He'd done so in hopes that it would make her hate him. Make her angry enough to have absolutely no problems arresting him.  
  
But he can also see in her eyes that she doesn't hate him. He didn't know what she felt for him but he knew Amanda. If she hated him…he'd know.  
  
"Commander Chakotay,"  
  
Her voice, though calm, cool, and professional, was exactly as he remembered. He wasn't used to seeing her like this. The composed and unflappable commander of a starship. He'd only seen her command a few times. Only seen the persona at a distance. He'd never had it directed at him like this. It was almost a heady experience, to be on the receiving end of it, and he wasn't sure why.  
  
He nodded a greeting, content to let her carry the conversation. Amanda apparently had more information about what was going on than he did. Let her be the one to share first.  
  
"I'm Captain Amanda Ziering," the greeting was unnecessary but he knew her. She was commanding a new crew and her personal life was her own. She wasn't about to let on to her senior staff, what was left of it, who he was to her or what she'd been to him. "Commander of the USS Phoenix." The quiet pride in her statement was probably indiscernible to any of the others, or even her own crew, but he heard it. This wasn't a reconstructed ship pressed back into service after Wolf 359. This command was the one she'd been working toward her entire career.  
  
"Captain." He acknowledged with the same professionalism she'd given him. She'd addressed him by his Starfleet rank in an attempt to put them on moderately equal footing. One officer to another. "I take it you were brought here by the Array as well?"  
  
She nodded once. "Yes. We were on a mission looking for you, actually." The tension in her words said there was quite a story behind them. She had been sent after him and was none too pleased about it. How they'd gotten her to do it had him wondering. Amanda wasn't a woman who followed orders without question. She tempered her obligation to her duty with more than a little common sense and had absolutely no problems challenging the orders of a superior officer if she believed she had cause.  
  
In his mind's eye, Chakotay had little problem imagining her reaction when some faceless Admiral gave her the orders to proceed to the Badlands and find the Maquis ship commanded by her ex. The precise words she'd used were a mystery to them but he had no trouble hearing the tone of her voice. Righteous fury was something she had great command of. He'd seen her angry off duty, he'd seen her angry on. Off, she was a force of nature. On, she was controlled anger. Tightly focused and carried as much impact as a photon torpedo. He didn't envy whoever'd had the pleasure of giving her those orders. Not one bit.  
  
"Well, you've found us." He said with much irony. "I'd ask if you'd like us to stand down to be boarded but…"  
  
"Your irony does not escape me, Commander." She interjected coolly, irritated by his response. "I'm well aware of the situation and may I point out that the Federation, the Cardassians and the Demilitarized Zone are thousands of light-years away and if we don't work together, we may never see any of it again?"  
  
He said nothing. She was right and they both knew it.  
  
Taking his silence for what it was, acquiescence, Amanda took a step back, glanced down at her soiled uniform and then up at him again. "A member of my crew is missing." She revealed quietly. "An ensign." A kid if the look on her face was any judge. She was taking this personal. But he knew her well enough to understand why. Amanda Ziering was downright possessive of her ship and her crew. If one of her people was missing, she'd turn every piece of space dust over until she found them. "I was hoping he might have been transported back to your ship by mistake."  
  
Time to lay the cards on the table. She hadn't asked for his help overtly but he knew her. Frayed about the edges, exhausted, holding herself, and her ship, together by sheer force of will. He had to wonder where her XO was. If he looked past the persona Amanda was projecting, he could see she was dead on her feet. She needed to rest.  
  
He pushed concern for her aside in the face of concern for a member of his own crew. B'Elanna had disappeared as well. He'd been telling himself the same thing Amanda had. That, somehow, she'd been transported back to the other ship by accident and was no doubt giving them hell. But if she had been, Amanda would have said so by now. She wouldn't have held that back for anything.  
  
"He wasn't." Chakotay said finally, dashing her hopes. "We're missing someone too. My engineer. B'Elanna Torres."  
  
He watched the hope drain from Amanda's eyes. "She's not there, is she?"  
  
"No." She shook her head. "I'm afraid she isn't." Moving to the center seat, she sat down and pushed a hand through her disheveled hair. "Well, Commander…it seems you and I are in the same boat as it were." She looked up again, smiling wryly. "Might I suggest we work together? Two heads and all that."  
  
He returned the smile. She was the last person he'd expected to be commanding that ship but he had to admit, knowing she was, he felt better. "For once, the cliché holds true."  
  
"They always hold true." She countered. "That's why they're cliché."  
  
"Point taken." Chakotay affirmed with a nod. "We're in the same boat, Captain, we might as well make it the same ship. Three of us will beam over and we can talk."  
  
"Very well. I'd tell you we're dropping the shields in preparation but…" She gestured to the damaged bridge. "I'm afraid we don't have any to drop."  
  
So he'd noticed. "If it makes you feel better, Captain…we're not in any better shape."  
  
Actually they were in worse shape. His ship was too old and too used to have withstood the trip as well as a brand new, top of the line starship could. Not that being a brand new, top of the line starship had helped the Phoenix much. It certainly hadn't helped it's missing crewman much.  
  
"So you aren't, Commander, so you aren't." Amanda sighed. "We'll be expecting you."  
  
He cut the channel then and turned to look at the Betazoid woman beside him. "Well?"  
  
"She's exhausted." Kasha shrugged. "But you know that as well as I."  
  
"That wasn't what I asked."  
  
"No, I know. She has no intentions of throwing us in the brig the second we arrive." Lowering her voice and giving him a knowing look, she added, "But you knew that too."  
  
He stood. "Kasha, Ayala, you're with me." Looking out at the massive starship before him, he inhaled a steadying breath. "The lady awaits."  
  
Finis 


End file.
